The much-anticipated release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is finally here, and fans will finally get to see the two iconic heroes battle it out on-screen. Unsurprisingly, the film is expected to break records in terms of ticket sales, which would be a mighty feat given the number of records that were just broken by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in December. But could BvS beat Star Wars at the box office? It's unlikely, sure, but with such a highly-anticipated film, anything's possible.
According to BoxOffice, though, the chances of BvS besting TFA seem slim. The site predicted in January that BvS will gross $154 million its opening weekend and $380,000,000 total for its run in theaters. While these are impressive numbers, they pale in comparison to those of The Force Awakens, which pulled in $529 million its opening weekend and $1.87 billion total. Those are some pretty hard statistics to beat, but BvS has certainly been trying, and because of advanced ticket sales, the film's estimated total gross has now increased to over $1 billion, according to The Guardian. And although BvS isn't currently predicted to succeed in besting Star Wars, there are some aspects of the movie that could end up sending BvS' box office earnings sky-high, such as:
It Has An Aggressive Marketing Campaign
In addition to traditional marketing methods, BvS tried to steal some of The Force Awakens' thunder back in April 2015 when filmmakers scheduled the release of a teaser trailer for the same week as the trailer release for Star Wars.
It Pulls From Multiple Comic Franchises
By combining two of the biggest superheroes out there, the movie has far-reaching potential to pull in fans of both series. Also featured are several other DC Comics characters, particularly those in the Justice League.
It Has An All-Star Cast
Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill star as Batman and Superman, respectively, but there are plenty of other stars in supporting roles. Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, and Diane Lane all make appearances, as do Ezra Miller, Holly Hunter, and many others.
The Build-Up Increased Anticipation
The creation of BvS was first teased back in 2006 with a clever hint in the movie I Am Legend. Since then, the buildup to the film has been tantalizing, therefore increasing the buzz around it.
It's still too soon to tell if BvS will beat Star Wars' box office records, so you'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, you can at least bet that the film will have some big numbers to match the big stars and big on-screen action.
Images: Warner Bros (2)
